


Hand in Hand

by twtd



Series: Look Into Your Own Heart [3]
Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 09:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16194848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twtd/pseuds/twtd
Summary: Hecate and Pippa come together***"May we sit?" Hecate asks as she pulls a blanket from the aether and starts to spread it out, already secure in Pippa's answer."Certainly," Pippa says, not challenging Hecate's expectations. They sit and silence descends again. Something seems to be on Hecate's mind but Pippa doesn't know how to ask in a way that won't send Hecate further into herself instead. Not to press or push too hard is the hardest thing Pippa has had to learn about interacting with this adult Hecate. It goes against her nature, but she's become more practiced at it over the last year, knowing when Hecate needs encouragement and when to leave her be.





	Hand in Hand

**Author's Note:**

> I know I already posted one fic today, but I'm posting a second one anyway because this conception of Hecate and Pippa are speaking to me right now and I have to write them. Hopefully this lives up to the other fics in the series.

They are here again, walking hand in hand through a garden, though one much farther removed from their normal lives. A student isn’t going to come rambling over the nearest hill, or at least one of their students isn’t. They’ve passed a few other people, families, couples, a rowdy group of twenty-something university students, but no one they recognize and no one who will recognize them. Now, they are alone in a wild looking but carefully cultivated imitation of the French countryside, magic keeping the dour English weather away and replacing it with something more Mediterranean. The air is warm, but not unpleasantly so, and the grass is soft. Hecate squeezes Pippa's hand but doesn't look at her, unreadable eyes fixed on some grape vines growing in the distance. Pippa has heard they're used to make a vintage only served to the Great Wizard and his guests, but she's never been one of those guests, so she has no idea if the rumor is true. 

"May we sit?" Hecate asks as she pulls a blanket from the aether and starts to spread it out, already secure in Pippa's answer. 

"Certainly," Pippa says, not challenging Hecate's expectations. They sit and silence descends again. Something seems to be on Hecate's mind but Pippa doesn't know how to ask in a way that won't send Hecate further into herself instead. Not to press or push too hard is the hardest thing Pippa has had to learn about interacting with this adult Hecate. It goes against her nature, but she's become more practiced at it over the last year, knowing when Hecate needs encouragement and when to leave her be.

Five minutes pass, then ten. The air shifts around them as the sun moves slowly overhead. 

Hecate reaches out for Pippa's hand, her grip tighter than it generally is. She forgoes kissing Pippa's knuckles this time only to turn Pippa's hand over and trace her fingers over the lines worn into Pippa's palm. Pippa shivers at the touch and she doesn't try to hide it. 

"Hecate…" Pippa starts but she doesn't know where she's going. Hecate's "shhh," stops her from having to find a follow-up. 

Hecate lifts Pippa's hand and kisses the center of her palm. Pippa can't breathe. It is the most intimate moment she has ever experienced and her hand trembles from her effort not to move. Hecate's head is still bent over her hand as Pippa looks on with wide eyes. It presages some evolution in their relationship, Pippa knows, but what that change will bring, she can not fathom. 

"Hecate…" she tries again, voice tremulous. 

"Shhh," Hecate echoes in reply. She kisses the inside of Pippa's wrist and Pippa's pulse jumps under Hecate's lips. Pippa manages a shuddering inhale. The next kiss is just millimeters further up her forearm, practically overlapping the last. Pippa fights to hold still, to let Hecate do as she pleases, but it's so hard not to lift Hecate's face and bring their lips together in what feels like a now inevitable kiss. Still, she lets Hecate do what she will, which apparently involves kissing the inside of Pippa's forearm from her wrist to her elbow, pushing her sleeve up as she goes. When she gets to Pippa's elbow, Hecate rests her forehead against the point of Pippa's shoulder, looking down at her arm. Pippa can't see much of her face, but she can see the edges of a closed mouth smile around Hecate's lips. 

The wind rustles the tall grass of the hill they're sitting on. It blows whisps of Pippa's hair across her face to tickle her cheeks. It pushes Hecate's perfume into Pippa's nose. Her perfume is light and minty, a suggestion of smell more than anything. It is probably easily overpowered by the smells in Hecate's beloved potions lab. Pippa notices it every time they're close, though they've never been quite this close before. 

Hecate's fingers, thin but strong, rub over Pippa's wrist as if tracing a rune or sigil. Perhaps that is exactly what Hecate is doing, leaving some sort of blessing in the wake of her lips and the turmoil they have wrought. Hecate's nail scrapes lightly against Pippa's skin and Pippa's sharpy gasp for air is audible. It seems to break the trance. 

Hecate looks up. She lifts her head and catches Pippa's eye. Pippa slides her wrist from Hecate's grasp and takes her hand once again. 

"Am I–" Hecate's fingers come up and cover Pippa's lips. The answer is clear. No, she is not allowed to speak yet. She waits. She feels the moment Hecate would normally look away passes and still Hecate's gaze is firm. She is looking for something but Pippa doesn't know what.

"I love you." The words are simple and straightforward, said without preamble or fanfare. They bring tears to Pippa's eyes. Ignoring the fingers still on her lips, Pippa throws herself forward into Hecate's arms which are miraculously there to catch her. She doesn't say anything. She just clings to Hecate, burying her face in Hecate's neck as she tries to recompose herself. Hecate's skin is warm from the sun and the smell of mint is stronger.

"I wanted…" Hecate starts but she is cut off my Pippa's lips on hers. Hecate's lips are dry under Pippa's but Pippa does not care. She can't contain herself any longer, not while her skin still tingles from Hecate's lips and her heart still thumps with Hecate's words. Hecate seems to be too overwhelmed to return the kiss properly but she does try to respond in kind. When the kiss ends, Hecate looks shell-shocked. Pippa immediately reconsiders her actions. 

"Was that, I mean… was that okay?" Pippa asks, now concerned that she may have overstepped. Just because Hecate loved her, was willing to tell her that she loved her, that didn't mean she was comfortable with Pippa's sudden kisses. Had Pippa ruined everything already? 

Hecate remains silent, but she brings a hand up to cup the side of Pippa's face, fingers curling around the back of Pippa' skull. With a confident movement, Hecate pulls Pippa forward and presses their lips together. This kiss is nothing like the first. Quick giddiness is replaced with a slow deliberateness as Hecate explores every cell of Pippa's lips. She is just as thorough as she was with Pippa's arm and when their tongues finally meet, Pippa whimpers and melts into Hecate. They are both breathing hard by the time the kiss ends and tears have left faint tracks down the side of Pippa's face though she isn't actively crying. 

"I had planned to say more, but in the end, it seemed superfluous," Hecate says. 

"I'm sure whatever you had planned was lovely." Pippa smiles kindly at Hecate, her own love, never much hidden in the first place, now radiates from her face. "I hope you know I love you too."

"I know. That was never…" Hecate trails off. 

"I know," Pippa replies. She knows that Hecate's belief in Pippa's love was never the obstacle that held Hecate's own feelings back. "What now?"

"I… that is… I thought we might stay here for a bit longer, and then I hoped you would let me take you to dinner." That wasn't exactly the scope of Pippa's question but she suspected answering anything broader would be too much for Hecate just then. 

"That sounds lovely," Pippa says as she tangles her fingers with Hecate's. She tugs lightly until she can place a kiss of her own across Hecate's knuckles. It elicits another small, close-mouthed smile. Pippa leans in and rests her forehead against Hecate's taking advantage of their new found closeness. It's time for her to ask for something, something that she doesn't necessarily need, but that she wants nonetheless. Her therapist would be proud of her for asking. "I'd like to stay at Cackle's tonight." Pippa searches Hecate's face for a reaction before she continues. "I just, well, I'd like to sleep next to you." 

The tops of Hecate's cheeks go red but she doesn't look put off by the request. 

"You're welcome to stay, but if you do, I don't know that I'll be content to simply let you sleep." Hecate says it so matter-of-factly that Pippa nearly misses the implication. 

"I would not be opposed to that," Pippa responds before she leans in for another kiss, one easily granted by Hecate. It seems there are areas where Hecate is braver than Pippa would have given her credit for. A new frisson travels down her spine at the thought of having sex with Hecate now that it's a very real possibility. Even if they don't do anything that night, knowing it's an option for the future makes Pippa's heartbeat speed up. 

A laugh carries toward them on the breeze and they mutually pull apart. "Shall we?" Pippa asks as she stands up. She offers Hecate her hand to help her up. Hecate takes it and soon enough they are walking hand in hand again.

**Author's Note:**

> So, there may or may not be a fourth story here. I make no promises. 
> 
> Comments are amazing and inspire me to keep writing.
> 
> I'm on tumblr @twtd11 and twitter @twtd


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